Episode #210 God is Self-Existent—What That Means for You – Knowing God

Hey friends, it's Jen, and welcome to this episode of Good God Talks. We're in this series looking at some of the characteristics of God, and a lot of these characteristics are likely words that we're familiar with as believers, but often we're far less aware of the impact that they hold for us, why it matters that God is this way. And as we grow aware of these things about God on display in the Bible and on display in our daily lives, we get to experience them in greater measure. Our awareness helps us notice him and it helps us engage with him in a greater way.

And so today we're talking about one of these attributes that's kind of a duh statement, but I believe there's more that God wants to show each of us personally, and practically about why it matters that this is true about God. And we're talking about God's self-existence.

Now, basically what that means is that God was not created. He always has been, He always will be, and that He exists independent of any other cause or being or sustenance. this probably goes without saying, but we are created beings. So there's a huge difference between us and God in this way.

Jackie Hill Perry, in her book, Upon Awakening talks about this in one of the devotions. She says, “You have been and will always be a creature. The only One who isn’t is God. Everything else is made. A derivative of the eternal One. The fact you’re a creature has never been a problem; the issue has always been your resistance to the submission your creatureliness requires. If you were made, then you were made for Someone higher than yourself.”

We see evidence of this in scripture Colossians 1:16-17.
“For by him [talking about God] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17)

I love how Jackie points out our creatureliness. Because we were created, our sovereign God had purpose already in mind for us. We were created by God and for God, we see in Colossians chapter 1.

But that's different for God.

He wasn't created by someone else, therefore being given existence or purpose by another being. He also isn't reliant on someone else to keep him alive or to sustain his existence.

And we've already talked in this series about God's eternal nature. So if you've missed those episodes, go back and check those ones out too.

God exists entirely because of himself.

I wanted to share that quote from Jackie because she talks about our resistance to our creatureliness. Our resistance to living aware of our dependence on God or maybe even resistance to his insight or direction or purposes as our creator. We can also have resistance to seeing God as He is, entirely other, entirely self-existent, because He is different than anything else we know in all of creation. He's the creator, not the created.

Let's look at a few examples in scripture about how God illustrates his self-existence.

In Exodus 3:14, God says to Moses, “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.’”

This is how God describes himself. Simply I am.

In Isaiah 46:9, it says, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”

In Revelation 1:17, it says “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last’”

God is the only one in all creation who was not created. He is the only one who is self-existent, who is self-sustaining, and who is self-sufficient, which we'll talk about in the next episode. But for today, let's take this concept into conversation with God.

And I have two questions to offer you to talk with him about.

Here's the first one:

God, in what ways do I need to remember that you are our self-existent creator?

And question number two:

God, what does it mean for me to live as your creation, made by you and for you?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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